Every National Hockey League club has them hanging in the draft closet. You can almost hear the rattling of bones when whispers of missteps magnify into great debates of what went wrong.

The Vancouver Canucks have their share of hits and misses and because you never really recover from first-round flops, it’s difficult to pass them off as managerial mulligans. It’s also easy to give a golf clap for great late picks.

As the Canucks prepare to step to the podium Friday in Chicago to announce their fifth-overall selection — or be preceded by commissioner Gary Bettman to announce a trade — they can take some solace from recent drafts. Thatcher Demko was a solid second-round pick in 2014, but the jury is still out on first-rounders Jake Virtanen and the traded Jared McCann.

However, it’s the vision to land promising players in the later rounds that really tests a scouting staff’s mettle.

Adam Gaudette was a fifth-round 2015 selection and is coming off 26 goals in 37 games at Northeastern. Gustav Forsling was a fifth-rounder in 2014 and dealt to Chicago for Adam Clendening. Good pick, bad trade. Forsling played 38 games for the Blackhawks last season, while Clendening logged but 17 for the Canucks in 2014-15.

However, the measuring stick for scouting success is two players in any draft who wind up playing in the NHL — whether for your club or another. In that respect, the new millennium success bar was set in 2004 with Cory Schneider (28th), Alex Edler (91st), Mike Brown (159th) and Jannik Hansen (287th).

Here’s a look at the best and worst Canuck draft picks from 2000-2012 because it’s still too early to pass judgment on the last four classes:

THE BEST

1. RYAN KESLER (23rd overall, 2003)

With Trevor Linden and Brendan Morrison aging, there was a dire need for a future scoring/shutdown centre. The Canucks couldn’t have found a better solution than Ryan Kesler, a polarizing, productive pain in the butt.

He would author a 41-goal season and capture the Selke Trophy in 2011 to cement his status as one of the game’s great two-way players.

Ryan Kesler was at his best for the Canucks during the 2011 Stanley Cup run.

Best remembered by his detractors for seeking a trade to a contender, he turned the Canucks into one. His five goals and 11 points in a punishing six-game Western Conference quarter-final series win over Nashville in 2011 was as close to a one-man show as you can get in a team environment.

Kesler quickly proved his worth in 2008-09 when aligned with the late Pavol Demitra and Mats Sundin. He had 26 goals, was named team MVP ahead of Roberto Luongo and the Sedins, and was a Selke Trophy finalist.

But there was never a warm and fuzzy feeling. From the Philadelphia offer sheet, a prickly relationship with the media, he rubbed many the wrong way. Yet, Kesler hit the 20-goal plateau seven times.

He suffered a torn labrum against San Jose in the 2011 Western Conference final and even though he scored the tying goal with 13.2 seconds left in the series’ deciding game, he would need cortisone shots to keep playing.

In a Postmedia project ranking of the 101 greatest Canucks, Kesler finished 10th.

2. CORY SCHNEIDER (26th overall, 2004)

Schneider ranked behind Al Montoya, Devan Dubnyk and David Shantz at the draft. But even before he got to the American Hockey League, Roberto Luongo had arrived in Vancouver and the long-range plan to have two capable stoppers had to first work through Jason LaBarbera, Curtis Sanford and Andrew Raycroft experiments.

Luongo and Schneider would combine to win the NHL’s Jennings Trophy in 2011 for fewest goals allowed, but their combined incomes would become a problem.

Ownership didn’t want a combined $9.3-million cap hit in 2013-14, so, in a draft-day shocker, Schneider was traded to New Jersey for the ninth overall pick, which became Bo Horvat. A poster boy for everything right about the organization, Schneider proved the one who got away because he was younger, cheaper and had untapped potential.

He would eventually emerge from the shadow of Martin Brodeur to become the Devils’ starter.

3. KEVIN BIEKSA (151st overall, 2001)

In his first NHL game, Bieksa took a roughing penalty 10 seconds into his first shift. He would hit and fight and in his breakout 42-point season in 2006-07, the finance major become a mainstay.

Bieksa was a growing presence in the room and a champion of charitable causes who could have run for Vancouver mayor and probably won.

Kevin Bieksa is best remembered for playing tough, playing hurt and with heart.NICK PROCAYLO /
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However, a number of injuries — including a calf laceration, torn ankle tendons, fractured foot, knee and groin ailments — would affect Bieksa’s mobility and battle level. In Game 4, as the Canucks were being swept by San Jose in 2013, he could barely move because an earlier groin injury morphed into a full-blown core concern.

Yet, he still accused the Sharks of embellishment to try to rally his club. It’s what he did best. Anything to gain an edge. He would also score the pivotal overtime goal in Game 5 of the conference final to propel the Canucks to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.

Bieksa played 597 games, 15th most in franchise history.

4. JANNIK HANSEN (287th overall, 2004)

Denmark wasn’t a hockey hotbed and being a ninth-round pick suggested curiosity about a player who skated well and had sneaky skill.

A 24-goal season with Portland (WHL) in 2005-06 got him on the fast track to the AHL the following season. His NHL transition would be more methodical because Hansen was just as valuable defensively because of speed and being a breakaway threat on the penalty kill.

Two 16-goal seasons and then a career-high 22 goals in 2015-16 spoke of his value to play any role and play it well — especially on the top line with the Sedins. He also became a voice of reason in the room and a financial fit that drew yearly trade interest.

That culminated with the San Jose swap for Nikolay Goldobin this season.

5, ALEX EDLER (91st overall, 2004)

The Canucks traded up to beat Detroit to the punch and landed a big, but raw prospect. Edler went from simply clearing the puck out of his zone to compiling a career-high 11 goals and 49 points in 2011-12 to cement his offensive potential.

Edler would also add a physical presence in the 2012 playoffs. However, his emerging confidence was shattered in a shocking 2013-14 season under John Tortorella. He was suspended early, sidelined 16 games by a knee injury and never got his game under him with just 22 points and an eye-popping, league-worst minus-39 rating. He has never really recovered.

THE WORST

Patrick White was a Minnesota high school hockey star and 2007 draft bust for the Canucks.

1. PATRICK WHITE (25th overall, 2007)

Eighteen high-school goals and eight in the USHL was the odd rationale to select White because the Canucks needed to restock the centre position.

However, White managed just 27 goals in four seasons at the University of Minnesota and never played in the NHL.

He was shipped to San Jose in August 2009, along with Daniel Rahimi for Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich.

White would play in Germany, Slovakia, KHL, Austria, Sweden and had 11 goals in 40 games last season for Dijon in France.

Ellington never played an NHL game and logged more outings in the ECHL than the AHL. He would eventually wind up in Denmark where he last played in 2013-14. In 2012, he was included in a trade-deadline deal for Samuel Pahlsson.

3. NATHAN SMITH (23rd overall, 2000)

After 28-goal and 90-point seasons with Swift Current (WHL), the 6-2 centre struggled. Often injured, he only played four games for the Canucks. A knee injury in his third season almost ended his career.

Smith wasn’t re-signed and after stops in Pittsburgh and Minnesota, his NHL career would amount to 26 games and no points.

4. CODY HODGSON (10th overall, 2008)

In the 2009 camp, Hodgson struggled through six of seven pre-season games with a misdiagnosed back injury. Alain Vigneault said he used the injury to cover off a poor camp.

Hodgson had 16 goals in 61 games in 2011-12, but was dealt to Buffalo for Zack Kassian and eventually bought out. He would also play for Nashville and retired at age 26 after the 2015-16 season.

5. JORDAN SCHROEDER (22nd overall, 2009)

Schroeder’s size and being a third-liner who suffered a shoulder injury and an ankle fracture before the 2013-14 season didn’t help. He couldn’t stay healthy and wasn’t going to move ahead of Henrik Sedin or Ryan Kesler.

He only scored six goals in 56 games over two seasons. A survivor, played 37 games for Minnesota last season.

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